


home.

by dahyunayeon



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Angst, F/F, Fluff, They're teens, avatar AU, just a random name i picked alright, namo and jeongsa are background relationships, the sooyoung mentioned in this isnt real, the title sucks bcs i couldn't come up with anything else, there is violence mostly in the second chapter but idk if it's worth an M rating so, there's no avatar here oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-05-31 17:25:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19430659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahyunayeon/pseuds/dahyunayeon
Summary: Dahyun is an air bender, Chaeyoung is her home in more ways than one, and Tzuyu has a lot to make up for.





	1. Dahyun and Chaeyoung.

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a while hasn't it...

“Give it back, you idiot!”

“When you catch me you can have it!”

“If you don’t get down here right now, Dahyun…”

“What are you gonna d- ouch!”

Dahyun definitely doesn’t expect Chaeyoung’s empty threats to be anything more than that, so when a pebble flies her way and hits her straight on the forehead Dahyun gasps dramatically.

“You asshole!”

“Give me my moon peach.”

“Oh, this thing you mean?” Dahyun smiles smugly and jumps to the top of the three where she is standing. She wraps her legs around a high branch and lets her body hang downwards, teasing Chaeyoung moving the fruit out of her reach.

Chaeyoung gives her a tired look and with a practiced move of her arms, the earth shifts beneath her and it gives her a boost to reach Dahyun, effectively snatching the peach from her hand. She makes sure to stick her tongue out once she swiftly lands on the ground.

“Loser, you seriously thought you could beat _me_?”

“I hate you,” Dahyun huffs angrily and jumps down from the three, not as elegantly as Chaeyoung but still making sure to blow as much air onto her friend as possible. She laughs when she succeeds in messing with Chaeyoung’s hair and the younger girl simply punches her shoulder before they start their way back home, away from the secluded place in the woods.

“I’m gonna tell Jeongyeon you used air bending.” Chaeyoung mumbles and side eyes Dahyun who gives her a knowing smile. They both know Chaeyoung is just bluffing.

“Then I will tell her you stole that moon peach.” Dahyun pinches Chaeyoung’s cheek to tease the pouting girl.

“I didn’t steal it,” Chaeyoung takes a bite of the peach and passes it to Dahyun, who eats it happily despite just claiming it was stolen. “It was on the floor, a good fifteen centimeters away from the stand. It was public property by then.”

“Too bad it was only one… I could have made a very natural breeze make some more fall, you know.”

“ _Then_ it would’ve been theft and we wouldn’t hear the end of it from Sana.” Chaeyoung says pointedly and takes the peach back. She rolls her eyes when she bites into the fruit and juice drips down her chin, then she tries to elbow Dahyun when she sees the girl laughing at her.

They walk in comfortable silence for a while until they leave their secret spot and the village comes in sight. Chaeyoung doesn’t miss the sigh that leaves Dahyun’s lips.

“You hate the earth kingdom that much?” Chaeyoung says as she grabs Dahyun’s wrist and slowly lets her hand trail lower until she’s interlacing their fingers.

“That’s not it and you know it…”

Chaeyoung decides to drop the subject, knowing Dahyun too well to know she doesn’t want to talk; so instead she rests her chin on Dahyun’s shoulder, giving her puppy eyes and blowing into her ear to tickle her until the girl cracks a smile. When they enter the town a few people give them weird looks, but Chaeyoung can’t bring herself to care.

Dahyun, however, still feels a bit shy and very out of place, so she grabs Chaeyoung’s hand tighter and hurries her step. Only once they’re away from the more crowded part of the village they start walking slower, still not letting go of each other’s hands.

Once they see their little house in the horizon, Dahyun can breathe more freely. The cool breeze messes with her hair and she can feel herself relaxing as she starts swinging their intertwined hands. Dahyun screeches once in a while as they walk through the high grass, and at one point she claims something weird just grazed her leg (she hits Chaeyoung’s arm repeatedly when the girl throws her head back, laughing loudly. _“I could’ve been bitten by something!”_ ). Even after almost a year, she doesn’t quite get used to it all.

Soon, the little shack they live in comes into view. It’s practically falling apart; the mold on the wooden walls takes more and more space every time they look at it, there’s a broken window taped back together, and they spot rats around the yard every now and then. But the smell of warm homemade food comes from the kitchen window and the plants hanging outside on decorated pots remind Dahyun of a garden she saw in the upper ring on Ba Sing Se once.

Seeing as the girl’s mood is a bit better, Chaeyoung races Dahyun, and their loud laugh booming all over the small meadow.

Chaeyoung makes the ground beneath Dahyun’s feet shift 180 degrees and she laughs when the girl loses her balance and falls on her face. Chaeyoung runs through the door and bends over with laughter when Dahyun catches up, face full of grass stains.

“Sana!” Dahyun yells dramatically, and soon the woman’s kind eyes are looking at them from the kitchen doorway.

“Yes, sweetie?”

“Chaeyoung tripped me _again._ ” Dahyun points at Chaeyoung in an accusing manner as if they were kids and the younger one smiles mischievously, not even trying to defend herself.

“Well, Hyun, isn’t it like the sixth time? You should’ve learned by now.” Sana shrugs and winks at Chaeyoung before going back to the kitchen.

“This is why you’re my favorite.” Chaeyoung tells Sana.

“I heard you!” Jeongyeon walks through the door carrying a heavy looking bag. Dahyun quickly helps her by taking some things out and once the bag is set on the kitchen table, Jeongyeon wipes the sweat off her forehead. “Honey, here’s what you asked for.”

Sana stops stirring the big pot and turns around to smile at Jeongyeon brightly. She cups the blonde girl’s cheeks and kisses her lovingly.

“Thank you, I hope it wasn’t much trouble.”

“Not at all,” Jeongyeon smiles at Sana reassuringly but when the brunette turns around to look inside the bag, Jeongyeon mouths _it was a lot of trouble_ at Chaeyoung and Dahyun, who hide their giggles behind their hands. “Now, how about you kids make yourselves useful and help us out?”

“We’re very useful; we bring joy to this household.” Chaeyoung says seriously and Jeongyeon ruffles her hair lovingly.

“That you do; you bring me lots of joy when you help me fix the leaks on the roof so let’s go.”

“You stay with me,” Sana tells Dahyun. “Those carrots aren’t gonna peel themselves.”

For two twenty-seven year olds, Sana and Jeongyeon do an amazing job at raising two teens. Dahyun is like a lost puppy in the earth kingdom, despite being eighteen she still needs to be taken care of; and even though Chaeyoung is definitely tougher, Jeongyeon wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing she isn’t safe under her roof (which is also why she needs to make sure said roof doesn’t leak).

Sana hums a song as she chops potatoes and Dahyun feels happy sharing such a simple moment with her. She is grateful for them, and she hopes the women know that.

A knock on the window makes Dahyun look up from the carrots she’s peeling and she giggles when she sees Chaeyoung making faces at her through the glass.

“Hold the ladder, you idiot! I need to get down!” Jeongyeon’s voice trembles and Chaeyoung teases her as she steps down on shaky legs, so Jeongyeon hits her with the roll of tape in her hand.

Sana laughs both at Chaeyoung’s pained expression and the rope Jeongyeon has tied around her waist to ensure her safety, the other end tied to the chimney.

(Jeongyeon hates heights, but Sana is too clumsy to go on the roof and Jeongyeon won’t let the _kids_ do it either, so she takes one for the team.)

When they sit down to eat a while later, Jeongyeon looks exhausted but she still smiles when Sana playfully feeds her mashed potatoes and coos at her. She must be really exhausted to not say anything when Sana starts pinching her cheeks too.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung take big bites of the food and thank Sana a million times once they’re done, happy and full. Jeongyeon can’t even keep her eyes open, too tired from running errands all day, so Sana takes her to bed while the girls wash the dishes.

(Sana is thankful they’re not water benders every time she hears the commotion they make when they do that particular chore, because more than once she’s seen them sneaking to their room with their clothes wet and covered in bubbles.)

Jeongyeon is fast asleep by the time Sana finishes changing, so she kisses her wife’s forehead and snuggles close to her under the covers.

“Chae, I’m freezing, can we _please_ go inside?”

“I won the water fight therefore I get to choose what we do.” Chaeyoung smirks at Dahyun, whose shirt and hair are soaked. The girl is trembling slightly, so Chaeyoung takes mercy on her and opens her arms invitingly from her place sitting on the grass.

They cuddle like that in silence for a good while, just staring at the stars.

Dahyun is eternally grateful to Sana and Jeongyeon for taking care of her and putting a roof above her head, but it’s moments like this, with Chaeyoung’s cheek pressed against hers and their hands intertwined, that make the Earth Kingdom feel more like home. Dahyun shifts in Chaeyoung’s embrace so they’re sitting facing each other, and she can’t help but stare at the way Chaeyoung’s eyes reflect the stars.

“I love you…” Dahyun mumbles lowly, and her hand comes up to cup Chaeyoung’s face. The younger girl leans into the touch, keeping eye contact with Dahyun intensely.

Chaeyoung doesn’t reply, at least not with words. She slowly leans in until their foreheads are touching, and she can feel the breath that leaves Dahyun’s lips when she laughs nervously against her own.

It’s Dahyun that breaks the distance, and they kiss softly, with barely any pressure but with a lot of emotions. It’s a fleeting, short moment, shorter than both of them would’ve liked, but both were too shy to ask for more.

Still, an hour later when they’ve already gone to bed and Dahyun has trouble falling asleep, she can still feel the tingle on her lips. She tosses around her bed, wincing at the small creaking noises it makes. She turns to look at Chaeyoung, who fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She’s always a mess when she sleeps, hair all sprawled out over the pillow and her mouth agape; yet Dahyun can feel herself blushing when she stares at her plump lips a second longer than usual.

To distract herself, she decides to stare at the ceiling instead. She notices a new leak forming, if the wet stain in the wood is anything to go by. She makes a mental note to tell Jeongyeon, preferably some time before the next storm.

Yes, maybe the house is less than ideal but the people that live in it care for her like very few people have, and not a day goes by where Dahyun doesn’t feel protected and loved.

It may not be the best or biggest house, but this is her family and it sure as hell is her home.

\--

_Fire._

_There’s fire everywhere._

_Giant flames surround her, and she can’t even move from her bed. She’s only eleven years old, hasn’t yet mastered her air bending, how is she supposed to defend herself? How can she protect the other nomads?_

_Someone barges through the door- Monk Yoona. She has dark ash stains covering her face and her robes are burnt. She roughly grabs Dahyun, pulling her out of bed and making her get on her back. Dahyun is in shock and wants to ask what’s going on but Yoona jumps out the window using her bending to get to the ground safely._

_Dahyun’s eyes widen in terror when she sees the temple going up in flames._

_Yoona glides with Dahyun still on her back towards the bison where other nomads are. Only the younger ones, Dahyun notices. Yoona makes her get on one of the smallest bison, sitting right behind Wonpil. There isn’t enough space for the two of them so Dahyun grabs onto the boy’s clothes tightly and feels him shaking. She sees some fire nation soldiers approaching them, and Dahyun doesn’t even get to say goodbye to Yoona before the woman makes the bison fly away._

_Dahyun tries to reach out, to hold onto Yoona. She’s leaving behind the woman who raised her._

_And as the tears fall from her eyes uncontrollably, the temple she once called home crumbles to pieces._

Dahyun wakes up frightened, shirt sticking uncomfortably to her back and she feels like she can’t breathe. She clutches at her chest, feel her throat closing up and her heart beating erratically.

In less than five seconds she feels the bed shift and Chaeyoung’s arms wrapping around her waist, cheek pressing to her back.

“You’re ok. You’re home, you’re safe now. I’ve got you.”

She can breathe again.

\--

“Stop slurping like that,” Dahyun chuckles and shoves Chaeyoung with her shoulder. They’re sitting on the curb of a street in the market, sharing a bowl of beetle-worm soup they bought (thanks to Sana’s new salary now that she got a job at the tea house) and watching some merchants from the water tribe trade with the local sellers.

“Hmm, like this?” Chaeyoung slurps again, making sure to make it sound juicy to make Dahyun cringe. They push each other around a bit, calling attention to them when Chaeyoung screams _you almost made me drop the beetles!_

“Excuse me,” Their banter is interrupted by a soft voice, and when they turn to look at the stranger their jaws drop.

The girl is nothing short of perfect- dark black hair that ends below her shoulders and moles scattered around her pale face, her water tribe robes fitting just perfectly around her straight posture. Dahyun clears her throat when she almost chokes on the soup.

“Yes?”

“Do you happen to know where _Gunter’s Hole_ is?”

“Gunter’s _what_?”

“It’s a bar,” Chaeyoung snorts, laughing at Dahyun’s horrified face. “A terrible name choice, not if you ask him though, he thinks it’s genius.” Chaeyoung turns back to the girl and offers a polite smile. “It’s three blocks down this street, then one to your right. Be careful, though, it isn’t the safest part of town.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you very much.” The girl shows them her gummy smile and leaves down the path Chaeyoung told her, and both girls stare as she goes.

“Pretty girl huh…” Dahyun comments quietly as she stirs the soup with her spoon.

“I’ve seen prettier girls around here,” Chaeyoung shrugs nonchalantly, subtly eyeing Dahyun.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You should go after her if you like her, you know,” Chaeyoung tells her friend trying to sound unbothered. “She shouldn’t be too far, you can still get to her.”

“Who said I like her?”

“I don’t know, seems to me like you do.”

“Well, I do not. Maybe you should go after her, if you insist so much.”

“She’s not my type.” Chaeyoung purses her lips trying to contain her smile when Dahyun rolls her eyes at her.

“What’s your type, then?”

Chaeyoung lets out a small giggle before she quickly kisses Dahyun’s cheek. When the girl looks at her surprised, hand over her cheek and red as a strawberry, Chaeyoung winks at her and replies.

“Ugly and dumb.”

“Idiot,” Dahyun hits Chaeyoung and they start fighting again, Chaeyoung practically climbing on top of Dahyun because the older girl refuses to share the soup.

A loud horn makes them stop their banter and the smiles disappear from their faces. Chaeyoung stands up and tries to see what the huge commotion down the street is about; but Dahyun doesn’t need to look. She knows what those horns mean.

The merchants start to gather their things and rush inside the stores, and Dahyun stands up next to Chaeyoung.

Dahyun freezes when she sees at least twenty fire nation soldiers riding komodo rhinos making their way towards them.

_“Do as we say and there won’t be any trouble.”_

The woman’s voice is cold and it sends shivers down Dahyun’s spine; one look is enough for her to be terrified. This woman- the captain of the squad, Dahyun assumes- has a shiny pin holding her hair up, unlike the rest of the troop who have simple bands; she rides the biggest rhino (also the only one wearing an armor) and she has a nasty looking scar on one side of her face as if she had been cut with a blade. 

When they pass by them, continuing their way down the street to the town council and ignoring the girls, Dahyun lets out the breath she had been holding.

Chaeyoung grabs Dahyun’s hand intent on turning away and never coming back into town, but as soon as they turn around they almost run into another rhino.

The girl riding it looks at them uninterestedly for a bit, a blank stare apparently stuck to her face. She doesn’t say anything and doesn’t even spare them another glance before taking the reins of the rhino and making it round the girls, trailing down the rest of the troop slowly.

They don’t wait to see what happens next before they start running back home.

Jeongyeon is in the front yard mowing the grass when the girls make it. When Dahyun runs straight to her arms and hugs her tightly, at first Jeongyeon is confused, but she doesn’t question her and returns the hug instead. However, when she feels Dahyun sobbing against her shoulder, she looks at Chaeyoung worriedly.

After Chaeyoung explains what happened, trying to not choke up, Jeongyeon gulps nervously. She feels scared, but she can’t let it show; she needs to be strong for the girls. Chaeyoung is equally shaken up, so when Jeongyeon stretches her arm towards her she doesn’t think twice and joins the embrace.

A few hours later when Sana gets home, she’s agitated and a bit disheveled from having run all the way from town.

She hugs the girls and kisses their foreheads, sending them to bed after a quick dinner. Not that they could stomach much anyway.

Dahyun can hear Jeongyeon and Sana discussing something in the kitchen, but she can’t make out what they’re saying. Chaeyoung scolds her and drags her to bed, climbing into Dahyun’s instead of her own. They don’t want to sleep alone.

Neither can fall asleep despite feeling exhausted, so they just lay there; Chaeyoung’s arms wrapped around Dahyun’s waist and nose nuzzled on her shoulder as Dahyun holds onto Chaeyoung’s hands tightly.

They stay like that for what feels like hours, and when Chaeyoung thinks Dahyun is finally asleep, she mumbles something against Dahyun’s shoulder.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you, I promise.”

Dahyun has to bite her lip to hold her sob.

\--

_Ba Sing Se’s walls grew tinier and tinier as Dahyun got away from the city, riding on the ostrich horse that used to be Wonpil’s. The boy who was like a brother to Dahyun had decided to move to Omashu with Sungjin, another man he met working at the mines and who Dahyun suspected was the cause of Wonpil’s sighs every time he was home. Initially, Wonpil planned to take Dahyun with him, but the girl declined and said she wanted to stay in Ba Sing Se even if being away from Wonpil made her heart ache._

_She really thought Fire Nation would never find her there, but she came to regret her decision when less than a month later a trustworthy neighbor- one of Wonpil’s old friends- told Dahyun there were fire nation guards rumored to be hiding between the rest of the citizens._

_Dahyun packed her stuff and left without looking back, but she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to go now. After all, if the supposedly safest place in the Earth Kingdom had been infiltrated, what was left?_

_Dark clouds quickly covered the sky and Dahyun could hear some thunder in the distance. According to her old map there was a village nearby, so she decided to go there at least for the night._

_When she reached the town, she palmed her almost empty pockets looking for the coins Wonpil had given her. She didn’t have enough for a place to stay, but she had enough to buy a bowl of cabbage soup. It started to rain just as she got her food, and the owner seemed to pity her so much he let Dahyun sit on the sidewalk of his shop, as long as her ostrich stayed calm._

_There was a very small tent roof on top of her head- but it was a roof._

_Dahyun had her back stuck against the wall but she was still getting splashed and her ostrich was getting uneasy. Her shoes (that already had too many holes) where wet and she feared she would catch a cold; she didn’t have money for medicine._

_Despite the storm there were still a few people running around the streets, getting in and out of shops._

_“Get out of here! I told you I didn’t want to see you around anymore.” A woman’s high pitched voice caught Dahyun’s attention, and she looked just as the woman kicked a tiny looking girl out._

_“I wasn’t doing anything!”_

_“Then I guess these grapes magically ended up in your bag!” The woman yelled again angrily waving the grapes around._

_The girl didn’t say anything else and when the woman closed the door on her face, she shouted angrily._

_“Those are super rotten anyway! I don’t need your stupid fruit!” She kicked the wall and ended up hurting herself; so she limped a bit until she sat on another closed store’s sidewalk. Dahyun looked at her curiously but the girl didn’t seem to notice, too busy rubbing her foot in pain._

_When even despite the rain’s sound Dahyun could hear the other girl’s stomach growling, she widened her eyes in surprise. The girl seemed nice enough despite just being accused of theft, small and probably about Dahyun’s age._

_“Psst,” Dahyun wasn’t sure about how to call for the girl, but luckily she looked up. At first she frowned at Dahyun defensively, but her expression softened when she saw her offering her bowl of soup. “You can have some if you’re hungry.”_

_The girl’s eyes switched between Dahyun and the bowl and she finally smiled when she took it. The girl moved closer to Dahyun, sitting next to her ostrich without feeling scared of the animal like most people in town._

_“Who are you?” Chaeyoung asked after taking a spoonful and returning the bowl. “You have to be new around here, no one in this town is kind- save for very few people.”_

_Dahyun chuckled and tapped her feet around the puddles of water forming as she finished her soup._

_“Yeah, I just got here… My name’s Dahyun.” Dahyun awkwardly offered her hand, waiting for Chaeyoung to shake it. She was never good at meeting new people, she even avoided having to do so if it wasn’t completely necessary, it was hard for her to trust people; but something about this girl made Dahyun feel… safe._

_“Chaeyoung,” She shook Dahyun’s hand and smiled at her again (it crossed Dahyun’s mind that her dimple was cute), “Are you here to stay?”_

_“I don’t know, if I can find a place, maybe…” Dahyun shrugged and petted her ostrich, which now had its head lying on top of Chaeyoung’s thigh. The girl didn’t seem to mind._

_“What about tonight? Where are you staying?”_

_“No idea… I just got here, literally, and I don’t have much money. I will probably just wait here until the storm passes.”_

_“Nonsense,” Chaeyoung kindly moved the ostrich’s head away and stood up, stretching her hand out to Dahyun. “Come with me.”_

_Dahyun scoffed; this girl couldn’t really expect her to follow her so blindly._

_“Where to?”_

_“My house. It’s not the best but it’s dry- and no, you’re not gonna be a bother,” Chaeyoung added when she saw Dahyun starting to complain. Chaeyoung’s hand was still waiting in front of Dahyun’s eyes as she weighed her options. Stay the night outside under a storm in a town she didn’t know, or follow a girl she just met to her house where she could murder her. “Please? I don’t want to leave you here all alone. As I said, people aren’t very nice. I promise you’ll be safe if you come with me.”_

_Something in Chaeyoung’s eyes made Dahyun trust her. And somehow, when she took her hand, she felt like she made the right choice._

_When they made it to Chaeyoung’s house they were soaked to the bone, and Dahyun almost used air bending to get them dry until she remembered she could very easily be turned in to the Fire Nation._

_“Chae, is that you?” A tall woman with short hair came out running and she slapped Chaeyoung’s arm before hugging her. “Sana was worried sick! I grew grey hairs wondering where you were! How many times have we told you to stop disappearing like that?”_

_The woman blurted all of this as she gave Chaeyoung a bone crushing hug, but frowned even more when she noticed Dahyun._

_“Who’s this?”_

_“Oh, um, this is Dahyun, we met just now… Dahyun, this is Jeongyeon, my… guardian, if you will. Jeongyeon, Dahyun needs to stay here for the night.” Chaeyoung wasn’t asking, Jeongyeon knew this much; the stranger would stay in her house whether she liked it or not, but she couldn’t give in so easily._

_“Why?” Jeongyeon took a defensive stance with both hands on her hips as she squinted at Dahyun._

_“I’m sorry, I really don’t mean to be a bother, but I’m all on my own and I don’t have any money- but I can make some to pay you back! I totally understand if I can’t stay.”_

_“Don’t be silly, you’re staying.” Chaeyoung said firmly, ignoring the glare Jeongyeon gave her._

_“Young lady, I think you’re forgetting this is my house and-”_

_“Chaengie, you’re home!” Another woman with long brown hair showed up and much like Jeongyeon, she hugged the short girl. “Look at you! Come on, you need to get changed before you get sick; I can’t scold you properly if that happens. Who’s your friend?” Sana asked with a smile and before Dahyun could protest she was being dragged by the woman inside the house. “You need dry clothes too, can’t have you catching a cold, can we? You should stay here; the rain doesn’t seem to be stopping.”_

_Jeongyeon sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before she went to the kitchen to prepare some food for the two girls._

_Dahyun felt shy wearing Chaeyoung’s clothes and sitting with her family to eat their food, but Sana (Chaeyoung’s other_ guardian _) made her feel welcomed and after making sure Dahyun wasn’t a dangerous criminal, Jeongyeon also warmed up to her. Mostly because Chaeyoung told them about how Dahyun shared her soup with her despite not knowing her, which made Dahyun get even shyer._

_Jeongyeon trusted Chaeyoung’s judgment._

_Dahyun did end up getting sick, so the next morning when she tried to leave Sana insisted she should stay a bit more. A bit more turned to weeks, and weeks turned to a month. As Chaeyoung had said, Jeongyeon and Sana were the nicest people in town- in the whole Kingdom, probably._

_Jeongyeon clicked her tongue every time Dahyun mentioned leaving and told her to shut up and finish her food._

_Sana ruffled her hair and gave her a few coins to spend with Chaeyoung in town._

_(They even let Dahyun’s ostrich stay despite its habit of pooping right outside the door.)_

_“Why do people always stare?” Dahyun asked one day tired of the glares they got as they walked through town._

_“Because people are rude,” Chaeyoung said simply, as if that was all there was to it, but Dahyun really wanted to know so she gave her a pleading look. Chaeyoung sighed and scratched the back of her head nervously. “My parents were thieves. They usually got away with it, it was small stuff just so we could live, you know? But one day they stole from a Ba Sing Se upper ring member who was passing by. He didn’t like it one bit and when they took them to court the queen decided they should be executed.”_

_Chaeyoung told the story as if she was talking about the weather._

_“Don’t give me that look,” Chaeyoung nudged Dahyun as they kept walking to ‘Chaeyoung’s spot.’ “It was ages ago… I was like six. I almost don’t remember their faces.”_

_“Is that how you ended up with Sana and Jeongyeon?” Dahyun asked, figuring it was better to not talk more about the girl’s parents._

_“Kinda… A lady took me in for a few years but kicked me out when I was like nine because I kept earth bending… I was a kid; I didn’t really care when she told me not to do it. Then I was on my own until I turned twelve and that’s when Sana found me. She and Jeong moved here from a town a few miles away, as Sana had inherited that patch of dirt from her uncle… they needed a new place to live so they came here. I was on the streets, dirty and poor, so they took me in. Now I’m clean and poor,” Chaeyoung joked managing to make Dahyun smile a bit, “What about you, though? What’s your tragic back story? Can’t believe I don’t know it already.”_

_Dahyun sighed and bit her lip. She knew Chaeyoung would ask eventually, she just hoped she had more time to come up with something._

_“I’m an orphan too… I used to live with my older brother but we got separated and I ended up here.”_

_It was close enough to the truth and it seemed to be enough for Chaeyoung for the time being._

\--

“You didn’t need to walk me to work, I said it was fine.” Sana hugs Dahyun and Chaeyoung at the entrance of the tea house. Only the owner is inside, and he waves at Sana and the girls kindly.

“Better be safe than sorry,” Chaeyoung mutters, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning (She thinks she looks threatening, Dahyun think she’s the cutest girl in the Kingdom).

“Well, thank you, then. Best security on the Earth Kingdom, five stars, would recommend.”

“Just go,” Chaeyoung rolls her eyes at Sana’s teasing but doesn’t complain when Sana kisses her temple. She does the same to Dahyun and goes to work, leaving the two girls on their own again.

“Should we go to _our spot_?” Dahyun asks wiggling her eyebrows once they start walking with their arms intertwined. Chaeyoung is still frowning and looking everywhere, squinting at the few fire nation guards she spots.

“I don’t think we should, not until things are more calm at least,” Just as Chaeyoung says _calm,_ a tall woman wearing the fire nation crest walks out of a store holding an old man by his shirt.

_“Next time, when I ask for the gold coins, you give them to me, got it?”_

“Pigs,” Chaeyoung musters through gritted teeth. Dahyun chastises and makes her walk the other way.

“Shut up before you get in trouble. Come on, Jeongyeon gave me a few errands,” Dahyun ignores Chaeyoung’s sulky mood and goes around the stores buying everything on the list Jeongyeon gave her. Ever since Sana got that job they were able to afford more things (Jeongyeon’s eyes tear up every time she notices how much fuller her girls’ cheeks look).

Dahyun is busy talking to the nice lady who sells vegetables (one of the only in the village who isn’t a harpy) when Chaeyoung sees another guard. However, this one isn’t threatening the villagers or causing mayhem, she’s leaning against the wall of an alley with an uninterested expression on her face, arms crossed over her chest and blowing away a strand of hair that keeps falling onto her face. Unlike the rest of the guards she’s not wearing a uniform, but simple fire nation citizen clothes. The only thing that lets Chaeyoung know she’s not particularly one of the good ones is the army crest sewed to her chest.

The girl lifts her gaze and meets Chaeyoung’s eyes. It’s cold and practically empty, but for some reason Chaeyoung doesn’t feel _scared_. When the tall girl keeps the eye contact for longer than normal people do, however, Chaeyoung starts to feel uneasy.

“Hey, hurry up,” Chaeyoung whispers into Dahyun’s ear and grips her arm. Dahyun feels a bit flustered about having Chaeyoung so close to her so suddenly, but the nice fluttering feeling changes to worry when she notices what- or who- Chaeyoung is worrying about.

Once they buy everything they need Chaeyoung carries the bags for Dahyun, but she doesn’t head home.

“Um, where are we going?” Dahyun questions while still following Chaeyoung.

“You wouldn’t think I only have one secret place, would you?”

-

“Do it again,” There’s no other way to describe Chaeyoung’s grin other than _dumb._ She’s sitting on the ground staring up at Dahyun as the girl spits watermelon seeds on her face like it’s the most attractive and heartwarming thing she’s ever seen.

(Chaeyoung finds herself looking at Dahyun like this more than she’d like to admit, but she doesn’t dwell too much on it. Dahyun looks at her the same.)

“It almost got in my eye! I think I better stop now,” Dahyun chuckles and walks over to Chaeyoung in the dirty alley that smells like garbage. “ _I spent more than a few nights here as a child,” Chaeyoung shrugged when Dahyun asked what the hell that place was._

Dahyun sits down on the trashcan next to Chaeyoung’s and drops her legs over the younger girl’s lap like she owns it. Chaeyoung glares at her but makes no attempt to move them. “Here, have some.”

Chaeyoung grabs the watermelon slice and takes a bit bite. Dahyun smiles at the way Chaeyoung munches so focused, and she knows she’s enjoying the taste because they don’t get to buy watermelon so often.

“Hey, I learned a new trick.” Dahyun picks up the fallen seeds from the floor (the ones she spit out moments ago) and starts gathering them on the palm of her hand.

Using her bending, Dahyun makes one of the seeds fly on a small spiral.

“What are you doing?” Chaeyoung hisses and looks around frantically, covering Dahyun’s hands with her own.

“Come on, Chae, there’s no one here except us. And that huge rat but it’s behind those boxes over there,” Chaeyoung gives Dahyun her serious expression but it starts to falter when Dahyun _pouts._ “Please, I haven’t used my bending in forever! One day I will have to rebuild the nation, you know? What if I forget how to do it and I can’t help my people?”

Chaeyoung rolls her eyes at Dahyun’s dramatics but ends up giving in despite the feeling in her gut telling her not to.

“Okay…”

“Behold!” Dahyun stands up and starts making several seeds fly around them. Then, one by one she makes them fly towards the wall, sticking them there. Chaeyoung doesn’t understand what’s so great about the “trick” until what Dahyun is doing starts to take form.

She writes “C + D” on the wall with watermelon seeds.

It’s the most romantic thing Chaeyoung has ever seen.

Dahyun smiles proudly and kisses Chaeyoung’s cheek when the short girl hugs her, hiding her face on the crook of Dahyun’s neck.

The happiness doesn’t last long, though, because when they end their embrace they notice another pair of eyes looking at them from the other end of the alley.

This time, Chaeyoung does feel terrified of the fire nation girl’s eyes boring into hers.

Chaeyoung moves in front of Dahyun protectively, hiding her behind her back. A million things go through Chaeyoung’s head; how she could be so careless to let Dahyun bend in public, how will she tell Jeongyeon they tried to take Dahyun away, but most importantly, how she’s going to defeat a fire nation guard, because she’s not letting up without a fight.

However, she doesn’t need to fight. The guard spares Dahyun a simple glance and then looks back at Chaeyoung, a short and almost unnoticeable sigh leaving her lips.

“Be more careful next time.”

And just like that they’re alone again.

\--

_“You better hold this crap tightly or else…” Jeongyeon worried without having set even one foot on the steps of the ladder._

_“Just go! Don’t you trust me?” Chaeyoung replied annoyed, both hands gripping the sides of the ladder so tightly her knuckles were white._

_“I don’t know, do I?” Jeongyeon’s voice cracked and Sana laughed at her lovingly through the kitchen window._

_“I told you I could make an earth stair for you-”_

_“You’re gonna wreck the house.”_

_Chaeyoung let go of the ladder exasperatedly and Jeongyeon yelled even though she was only on the first step._

_“Stupid, what are you doing!?”_

_“Jeong, treat the kid kindly!” Sana scolded her wife._

_“Don’t take her side!”_

_“How about I hold it instead?” Dahyun asked sticking her head out from top of the roof._

_After a heavy storm that hit the town, their kitchen got three new leaks which happened to be on top of the table, one of them right above Jeongyeon’s seat._

_(Everyone almost choked when they were having dinner and a huge stream of water fell on top of the blonde girl.)_

_So now, they had to make the most out of the sunny day and fix the roof before it rained again._

_“Yes, great idea!” Jeongyeon nodded enthusiastically and Chaeyoung scoffed as she held the ladder for Dahyun to get down. Dahyun was supposed to help Jeongyeon, but since the woman insisted Chaeyoung didn’t hold it firmly enough, they had to switch._

_With Dahyun holding it, Jeongyeon got up in no time and she and Chaeyoung started to look for the leaks with Sana’s help as she told them where they were from inside the kitchen._

_They managed to fix two of them without problems so Sana walked out to stand next to Dahyun and watch as the others worked. The third leak was bigger and Jeongyeon realized she needed another tool she had left on the floor. Instead of letting Dahyun look for it, she walked over to the edge of the roof to point where it was; but it was slippery from the water left from the rain, so Jeongyeon stumbled and fell._

_To Sana, it happened in slow motion. The way Jeongyeon fell face first towards the rocky ground. Chaeyoung watched in horror from the top of the ceiling as Jeongyeon’s head was centimeters away from the floor._

_But she never collided, because a strong gush of wind cushioned her fall and let her touch the ground softly without as much as a scare._

_Three pairs of eyes turned to look at Dahyun, wide as the moon. And she couldn’t possibly hide the fact that she air bended._

_Dahyun was scared, because she was supposed to keep it a secret; they wouldn’t want to shelter an air bender when the fire nation could come knocking on their door because of her._

_She watched frozen as Sana ran towards Jeongyeon who was sitting on the ground breathing heavily and clutching her chest. Sana looped her arms around Jeongyeon’s neck and kissed her face over and over and Jeongyeon, even in her shocked state, reached out to wipe Sana’s tears. Chaeyoung got down the roof on her own, and she looked at Dahyun with an unreadable expression._

_“Why didn’t you tell me you’re an air bender?” Chaeyoung asked quietly, squinting at Dahyun. Jeongyeon got up with help from Sana and stared at Dahyun agape. Dahyun gulped nervously and prepared herself for the worst; got ready to hear Jeongyeon tell her to pack up her stuff and for Sana to close the door when they kicked her out. And she understood, really; she couldn’t blame them. Chaeyoung, on the other hand… She was afraid of what she would think; she’d probably be hurt because Dahyun lied to her and she couldn’t stand to see that look on her face- “That’s so cool.”_

_“Huh?”_

_Jeongyeon surged forward and wrapped Dahyun in a hug that knocked the air from her lungs. Dahyun could feel the woman shaking so she rubbed her back reassuringly and soon could feel her own tears running down her face, the fear of Jeongyeon getting hurt shaking her up._

_Sana made Jeongyeon go back in the house and didn’t let her get up from the bed even if she insisted she wasn’t hurt; and when Jeongyeon tried to stand up, a single glare from Sana was all it took to make the other woman go back in bed._

_Dahyun sat outside of the house nervously with Chaeyoung next to her. She had been asking a million questions nonstop but Dahyun couldn’t focus, too worried about the “we’ll talk later” Sana said to her before she went to tend to Jeongyeon._

_“Hey, loosen up. They’re not gonna kick you out.” Chaeyoung grabbed Dahyun’s hand to make her feel safe._

_“How can you be so sure?” Dahyun’s voice was small and a bit shaky, she couldn’t stop bouncing her leg and curling into herself._

_“Because they didn’t kick me out when I tried to earth-bend my way out of my room the first time I got grounded and ended up breaking a window. They’re patient and understanding-”_

_“But earth benders aren’t haunted by the fire nation.” Dahyun cut in, wiping the tears that came out of her eyes without her intending to._

_“Dahyun,” Sana’s kind voice coming from the doorstep soothed Dahyun even if she still didn’t know what would happen with her. “Please come inside, you’ll catch another cold.”_

_They walked over to the woman’s room and Dahyun, thinking it would be the last time she was there, started to look around the room and she noticed things she didn’t before; like all the pictures of Jeongyeon and Sana since they were about fifteen years old to more recent ones._

_There was one photo in particular that caught Dahyun’s attention. She had no idea when it was taken, or since when they owned a camera, but right there next to Sana and Jeongyeon when they first moved in was a picture of Dahyun and Chaeyoung in the kitchen from the time Sana tried to teach them how to make dumplings. Dahyun was battling with the dough, tongue sticking out in concentration and Chaeyoung was resting her head on her hand and looking at Dahyun almost adoringly._

_The fact that they cared enough to_ frame it...

_“Hyun, come here,” Jeongyeon patted the space next to her on the bed and Dahyun sat there. Sana sat on the other side and Chaeyoung watched them from the doorway. “I’m not gonna ask why you hid this from us, I understand what your reasoning was… but I am hurt you thought you wouldn’t be safe here.”_

_Dahyun choked up immediately. She pursed her lips and closed her eyes because she felt guilty, but Jeongyeon put her arm around her shoulder giving her comfort._

_“Look at me, kid,” Jeongyeon shook her a bit and smiled at her, making Dahyun feel more at ease. “You’ve been here for what, five months? And you’re already part of this family. We will always protect you, alright? You’re home now.”_

_Family…_

_\--_

“So, how did it go?” Chaeyoung, who was leaning against a wall and kicking stones, perks up when she sees Dahyun walk out of the library, smiling brightly at her with dimples and all.

Dahyun gives her a tight lipped smile and a shrug of her shoulders as she loosens the tie around her neck and opens the first button of her shirt.

“As good as it could…”

It was Sana’s idea to get Dahyun a job at the new library when she saw the place was hiring. The girl had mentioned wanting a job to help in the house, so Jeongyeon dig her old fancy clothes from the closet (that fit her just a bit too big) and Sana combed her hair, shiny pin and all. When she walked out of the women’s room Chaeyoung snickered at her, then hugged her by the neck and kissed her cheek sweetly when Dahyun pouted.

(Jeongyeon and Sana had stopped wondering about what went on between those two and decided to just let them be.)

“Look at the bright side,” Chaeyoung nudges Dahyun and then intertwines their arms as they walk towards Sana’s work place to pick her up. “You look mighty fine dressed all formal,” Chaeyoung winks and Dahyun tries to cover her blush by taking her hair out of her ponytail and letting it fall over her shoulders. “I mean it.”

“You always think I look pretty,” Dahyun says tucking her hair behind her ear shyly.

“Because you always do,”

The giddy smiles vanish from their faces quickly, though, when they turn the corner to find something very unpleasant; the captain of the fire nation squad who had been causing nothing but trouble since she arrived cornering the old man who owns the tea house with a crowd watching around them. Chaeyoung’s heart freezes when she sees another two guards grabbing Sana and her coworker by the shoulders as the woman threatens the owner.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung share a worried look before they start to make their way through the crowd, but when they finally make it to the front Sana shakes her head, telling them to stay where they are.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, old man; you better apologize or I _will_ give you a good reason to be sorry,” The soldier says with venom in her tone. Her eyes are cold and by their sharpness, Chaeyoung is reminded of a snake; however the man isn’t letting her intimidate him.

“As I’ve said before, the establishment is reserved the right to deny our service.”

The woman’s nostrils flare and her clenched fist lights up on fire, making everyone in the crowd gasp and Sana shut her eyes tightly.

“This insolence won’t be tolerated.”

Chaeyoung wants to do something, maybe earth bend to save the man, but she realizes it’s too late as fire blasts towards his face. She closes her eyes and holds onto Dahyun’s arm tightly, hearing the crowd gasp again.

She opens her eyes with dread, but she finds the girl from the alley is standing between the man and the woman, hands up defensively as if she had just blocked the fire.

The woman all but growls at the girl as her fists light up again, but the girls does the same, except her flames are bright blue instead of orange. They stare at each other intensely, and Chaeyoung is surprised at how the girl isn’t letting up and instead looking as threatening if not more. The girl blocks the first burst of fire with a bit of difficulty but quickly recovers and fires back, the blue flames shining in her eyes.

Chills run down Chaeyoung’s back when she feels a way too strong gush of wind bouncing off the floor. Her eyes switch from Dahyun’s clenched jaw to her tightly closed fists, and finally to the dangerous eyes of the woman glaring right at Dahyun. If Chaeyoung felt the burst of wind, she certainly did as well, and she knows without a doubt it was Dahyun’s bending.

Before the soldier can pay Dahyun any more attention, the fire nation girl expels more fire out of her hands catching her attention.

“I think that’s enough, Chou. Let’s go,” The guards let go of Sana and she quickly stumbles over to the girls, covering Dahyun’s face with her body as to hide her while the girl – _Chou_ gets dragged by her shirt. She grabs both of them and starts to walk away from the crowd, but Chaeyoung manages to turn around to see the soldier roughly making the girl mount onto the rhino.

Their eyes meet, and this time instead of wanting to look away as soon as possible, Chaeyoung holds the girls stare, trying to silently thank her.

\--

Sana stays quiet for the whole walk home, rubbing her temple and pinching her nose every few minutes. She’s clearly distraught and more than shaken up, so the girls decide to give her some space and let Jeongyeon deal with it properly when they got home.

She goes straight to her room, not before kissing each of the girl’s foreheads and muttering goodnight. Chaeyoung quickly excuses herself to go shower and leaves Dahyun alone, overthinking why Chaeyoung sounded so cold towards her when she left.

Jeongyeon comes into the kitchen a while later, sighing deeply and engulfing Dahyun in a hug when she sees her. Wordlessly they start to make dinner- or something that comes close to it. Jeongyeon brings Sana a bowl but when they call Chaeyoung, she shouts that she’s not hungry. Dahyun and Jeongyeon share a look and Dahyun tells her to go be with Sana.

So Dahyun stays alone, eating her soup in silence as her mind runs wild.

When she goes upstairs, Chaeyoung is curled up on her bed facing away from Dahyun. She knows she’s not asleep, but she doesn’t bother the shorter girl and instead changes to get into her bed.

It doesn’t take long until Dahyun feels her bed dipping, and then Chaeyoung’s arms sneaking around her waist, nose nuzzled against her neck.

“You’re stupid.” Chaeyoung mutters, rubbing lazy circles with her thumb over Dahyun’s hip bone.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, you’re stupid.” Chaeyoung sobs out and Dahyun shifts around the bed until she can move the other girl so they’re laying side by side, facing each other. Dahyun runs her thumb over Chaeyoung’s cheek, wiping her tears away.

“I know…”

“I could’ve lost you, do you know how dangerous what you did is?”

“You don’t need to tell me-”

“No, it seems like I do, because it’s already happened twice this week. For whatever reason that girl didn’t snitch on us and even risked herself today, but there might not be a third time where you get away so easily.”

“I’m so sorry, Chaengie,” Dahyun opens her arms offering a hug, but Chaeyoung goes for a kiss instead. Dahyun kisses her back, eyes shut tightly as she feels the other girl’s tears in the kiss.

Chaeyoung pulls apart and stares at Dahyun with glossy eyes. She licks her lips and Dahyun’s eyes follow the movement on her tongue. Chaeyoung holds Dahyun’s cheek, softly plays with her ear with the tip of her fingers, then leans in to kiss her again.

Dahyun feels some of her tension leaving her as Chaeyoung’s lips move against her own, this time more calmly. She cups Chaeyoung’s neck, trying to bring her closer even if that’s practically impossible with how close together they are; but Dahyun _missed her,_ ever since that night when they kissed she couldn’t stop thinking about how much she wanted it to happen again.

She trembles slightly when Chaeyoung sighs against her lips, and only gets to softly lick her bottom lip before the shorter girl pulls away, eyes closed.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lose you, Hyun.”

“You never will, Chae, I promise.”


	2. Tzuyu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii sorry for the wait everyone, but it's finally here! this has a good amount of fluff but also angst kinda fjdnjkg this is def one of the most dramatic things i've ever written lol anyway im sorry if this isnt what you expected but i hope you like it!

Turns out Dahyun does get the job at the library, although no one is very surprised about it; not only because she was one of the two only applicants for the job, but also because she is, as Sana calls her, impeccable.

The owner, Nayeon, is very kind to Dahyun and offers her some tea when it’s not very busy; and her wife, Momo, always pinches her cheeks and chats with Jeongyeon the few times she goes to drop Dahyun off.

(Of course Dahyun insists she’s an  _ adult _ and she’s more than fine going by herself. Jeongyeon always replies  _ shut up, kid. _ )

Dahyun works diligently helping the customers find what they’re looking for and then rearranging the books when they leave them in any other shelf but the one they were on in the first place.

She’s delighted when more books come in; she finds a new interest in reading and starts to spend more time in the library even after it closes.

Chaeyoung isn’t very thrilled about it.

Every time Dahyun comes home late she pouts and sulks and only stops whining when Dahyun gives her a bone crushing hug and a kiss. She tells Chaeyoung she can come by, her bosses won’t mind, but Chaeyoung is also busy helping Jeongyeon with her new farming business (if growing some vegetables on their huge yard can be considered a farm. Or a business).

All in all, Dahyun finds comfort in the new place; and it almost feels like a second home to her.

That’s why she feels shocked to see the fire nation girl standing before the front desk handing a box to Nayeon, who takes it with a bright grin and a squeeze to the girl’s hand. Before she can fully process it, Dahyun is walking towards them with a deep frown.

The girl’s small smile falters and she takes a quick glance at Dahyun before sticking her gaze to the floor- her usual cold expression replaced by that of a kicked puppy. Lucky for her, Nayeon comes to her rescue.

“Dahyun, this is Tzuyu… I take it you two know each other,” Nayeon’s eyes shift between both girls, waiting for either of them to say or do something. When neither does, Nayeon continues, “Tzuyu, this is Dahyun, she works here.”

Tzuyu avoids Dahyun’s stare, deciding to look at her fidgeting hands on the counter instead as she bites her lip nervously.

“Nayeon, can I have a word with you?”

-

Dahyun paces back and forth in the tiny office while Nayeon stares at her, stifling a laugh. As the girl almost burns a hole in the ground, Momo and Nayeon eat from their bowl of noodles while they wait for Dahyun to stop gaping and actually say something.

“I- I’m trying to understand but I can’t…  _ why  _ is a fire nation guard bringing you  _ lunch? _ ” Dahyun asks annoyed, pointing at the now almost empty bowl on Momo’s hands.

“’Cause we forgot it at home-” Momo snickers and smiles at Nayeon, waiting for her wife to laugh at her joke. Nayeon chuckles for a second until she remembers there’s a very angry Dahyun standing in front of them.

“Tsk, not cool, Mo…”

“Still waiting for an explanation here,” Dahyun waves her arms around, knowing she probably shouldn’t be so disrespectful to her bosses but her judgment is clouded.

“It might be hard to understand but…” Momo starts, thinking of a way to put it that won’t hit Dahyun as hard.

“Tzuyu is staying with us for the time being.” Nayeon finishes for her with a deadpan expression.

Dahyun looks at her in disbelief, then closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose, huffing loudly.

“Care to expand on that one?”

\--

_ When Tzuyu was practically thrown on top of the rhino, she knew the consequences of her insubordination wouldn’t be light, especially when she was dragged to the basement of the building the squad had claimed as their own. Not that she had expected to be let off with just a warning, she knew what would happen and she took the risk despite that. _

_ Still, that didn’t stop the slap to her cheek from hurting so much. _

_ She looked up from where she was kneeling in front of the captain of the squad, cheek tingling but stare unwavering. _

_ “I knew you were stupid but never this much,” The woman spits, walking in circles around her like a predator around it’s pray. “Do you have any idea how much of a fool you made me look in front of those civilians?” _

_ “I guess I just showed them things as they truly are.” Another slap, harder than the last. _

_ “After all these years you still think you can be a smartass with me… You really need to keep your mouth shut, Chou. You really take after your mom, huh?” _

_ Tzuyu clenched her jaw at those words, and her fists clenched on top of her thighs. _

_ “What, cat got your tongue?” The woman smirked smug, not a hint of amusement in her eyes, though, only pure malice. “If you want to end like her we can get that arranged in no time, you know? Then you’d finally join your dearest mother.” _

_ She shut her eyes closed, trying hard to control her breathing although she could feel her fists start to heat up. When she opened them again, the woman was standing right in front of her with her arms behind her back, looking at Tzuyu like she was nothing. _

_ “You’re really just a useless bitch like she was. Don’t know what dad ever saw in her.” _

_ Something breaks inside of Tzuyu and before she can stop herself, she blasts fire at the woman’s face. But she is the captain of a squad for a reason, of course. She knew Tzuyu would quite literally explode when she saw the smoke coming off her fists. She was quick to block Tzuyu’s attack, and much faster to shoot a flame of her own. Tzuyu instinctively covered her face with her arms and cried in pain when she felt the fire burning through her sleeve and onto her arm. _

_ “You really are the stupidest person I know, Chou,” The woman said as if nothing had happened, as if Tzuyu wasn’t curled up on the floor in pain. “Leave. And don’t bother coming back,” She kicked Tzuyu on her way out, and then turned around as she reached the exit. “And I mean it. If I see you around here, I won’t go easy on you again.” _

_ As Tzuyu lay on the dirty floor, she couldn’t distinguish her angry tears for her hurt ones. But she was strong, hadn’t survived for seventeen years out of luck. She willed herself to stand up on shaky legs and drag herself out of the basement; didn’t bother looking for her very few belongings. _

__

_ Tzuyu tugged the hood of her cloak over her head as she walked out of the building, arm clutched close to her stomach. She left out the back and started wandering the busy streets, trying to stop crying so much. The last thing she needed was people’s attention. _

_ She didn’t know where to go; she didn’t know anybody in town and it’s not like she would be welcomed anywhere. She was hopeless, considering spending the night in the nearby woods and waiting for the morning to run away like she had thought about doing so many times before. _

_ As she kept walking a sign in particular caught her attention. She was sure it wasn’t there when she first arrived- the town was small enough to keep track of everything in it, but something about it lured Tzuyu. So, having nothing left to risk, she decided to walk into the library, hoping she could there, at least for a while.. _

_ The place was empty, but there was no one at the front desk so she decided to walk in anyway. She sneaked around the shelves, looking for a safe place to let things settle in, to cry it all out; but she had to be quiet since she didn’t know if the owners would receive her well. _

_ So there, sitting against a shelf in the astrology aisle, Tzuyu let herself be vulnerable like she rarely did. She hugged her knees close to her chest, careful to not put too much pressure onto her arm; and she cried. Cried like she hadn’t cried in years- and Tzuyu cried a lot. She needed to get her arm healed soon before the damage got worse, but she had no one to ask for help. _

_ “Excuse me,” A soft voice startled Tzuyu, making her look up from her position curled up on the floor. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” _

_ There was a woman standing at the end of the aisle, leaning down to look at Tzuyu better with a worried expression, brows furrowed. However, Tzuyu didn’t know what to reply; everything was wrong. She stared at her own shoes and hid most of her face behind her arms, worried that the woman would kick her out as soon as she discovered who Tzuyu really was. _

_ “It’s ok… you can tell me,” The woman was now a bit closer, crouching next to Tzuyu but still giving her enough space. “I promise I just want to help.” _

_ Her kind eyes made Tzuyu take a chance and trust her. _

_ “Got hurt,” Tzuyu sobbed out and extended her arm for the woman to see. _

_ “Oh, honey,” With her help, Tzuyu stood up and followed the stranger to a small back room where she sat down on a couch; the warmth of the room immediately making her feel better. _

_ “I’m sorry…” Tzuyu mumbled, feeling more vulnerable than ever. _

_ “Shush, there’s nothing to apologize for,” The woman turned around with some bandages and a small pot in her hands, warm smile adorning her face. “I’m Momo, by the way. Now, could you please take the cloak off? It will make things much easier.” _

_ Tzuyu did as she was told without thinking and untied the strings holding the cloak together. She regretted it immediately when she saw Momo’s eyes widen, but only then did she remember she was still wearing the fire nation uniform, crest sitting shiny on her chest. The room suddenly felt stuffed and Tzuyu’s throat felt like a knot; she should’ve known better, she should’ve- _

_ “It’s okay, don’t worry,” Momo let out a shaky sigh and then started to tend to Tzuyu’s wound. She applied the ointment carefully, touch light as a feather as to not cause Tzuyu any more pain; then she wrapped the bandages around her arm. When she was done, Momo smiled at her again, trying to let Tzuyu know she was safe. “Listen, how about you wait here for a second while I go get you some water, hmm?” _

_ “Alright…” Tzuyu gulped relieved that she wasn’t being thrown out and feeling thankful towards Momo. _

_ When Momo returned, she came back with the promised cup of water, but with another woman as well. _

_ “So this is Nayeon, my wife… we own the store,” Momo explained awkwardly as she gave Tzuyu the cup, which the girl grabbed with shaky hands, feeling nervous once again. “Nayeon, this is… oh, sorry, I didn’t ask for your name…” _

_ “Tzuyu,” She replied shortly. _

_ “I see. Nayeon, this is Tzuyu… as I told you, she’s hurt and, well…” _

_ Nayeon smiled at Tzuyu and sat down next to her, eyeing her bandaged arm with a slight grimace. _

_ “So, Tzuyu… what brings you here?” _

\--

Even after hearing the story, Dahyun is still weary. She does feel sorry for the girl, but she can’t bring herself to trust her.

However, she does promise Nayeon that she will try to at least not be rude.

It turns out to be easier than Dahyun thought, though.

Maybe it has to do with Tzuyu spending more time in the library, helping Dahyun reach the top shelves, sending death glares at the clients who leave the books in the tables or in the wrong places, and being so upfront about things that it’s simply funny (like the time Nayeon asked Tzuyu if she was “the best cook in the Earth Kingdom or what” and Tzuyu flat out said Momo was better).

It’s almost worrying how quickly Tzuyu gains her trust.

(Very worrying, if you ask Jeongyeon. Nothing to worry about, if you ask Sana.)

Still, it’s not like Dahyun dislikes it.

She truly has no idea how “trying to not be rude” turns into “hanging out with Tzuyu by the river”, but there she is; pants rolled up and laying on the grass, watching the clouds move in the sky, feet in the cold stream of water as Tzuyu sits next to her hugging her knees to her chest.

“…And that’s how a bison almost bit my brother’s hand off,” Dahyun finishes her story with a wide grin, enjoying the way Tzuyu’s eyes crinkle when she laughs at her story, covering her mouth shyly. “So now you know, never take the apple away from their mouth once it’s already open.”

“It sounds like the air temple was a fun place to grow up in.” Tzuyu says with a dreamy sigh before she tenses up. They had never mentioned the relation their people had with each other.

A heavy silence forms between them after Tzuyu’s comment. Dahyun sits up and she can see both of them reflected on the river stream. Tzuyu has her eyes shut, clearly regretting her comment, and Dahyun finds a bit of irony in their reflection. An air bender talking so amicably next to a Fire Nation guard.

The reality is that Dahyun never felt any resentment towards Tzuyu. How could she? When Tzuyu was of the sweetest people Dahyun knew... The girl cried when stray animals followed her home, always made sure to leave some food for Dahyun during their shared lunch breaks because she knew the older girl was never truly full, and even learned how to cook so that Nayeon and Momo wouldn’t have to.

No, of all things Dahyun felt for Tzuyu (which were admittedly more than the girl herself realized), none of them were negative.

“It was. I don’t remember much of it, though, mostly just the parts with Wonpil,” Dahyun looks at Tzuyu with a soft smile, trying to make the guilt in Tzuyu’s face fade. When it doesn’t work, she reaches across the grass to grab Tzuyu’s hand. The tall girl looks at her with teary eyes, and Dahyun doesn’t know why her chest hurts so much at the sight. “Tzu, you were a toddler when it happened.”

“But what about all the other times? When I just watched as they-” Tzuyu’s voice breaks slightly. Dahyun moves to sit closer to her, wrapping one arm around Tzuyu’s shoulder.

Dahyun realizes then that she’s still yet to know much about Tzuyu; other than that she wakes up at an ungodly hour of the morning and that she doesn’t let noodles cool, insisting that as a fire bender it’s not hot at all.

Before Dahyun can come up with something to say that will comfort Tzuyu, a skipping stone splashes water on them making the girls look up. Chaeyoung smiles at them from a small distance, walking with her hands in her pockets nonchalantly.

Chaeyoung nods at Tzuyu before sits down next to Dahyun, leaving a sound kiss on her cheek.

“What were you dorks doing?” She asks as she loops her arm around Dahyun’s shoulders. Her smile quickly drops when she notices Dahyun’s grimace and Tzuyu not so discreetly wiping her tears. “Wow, what happened?” 

“We’re telling childhood stories,” Dahyun replies quickly, trying to spare Tzuyu. “It’s just that I told her about that time I shaved my head myself and almost cut my ear.”

“You don’t need to lie,” Tzuyu mumbles, barely audible. Her usually quiet voice sounds ever lower and her mouth is pressed against her burnt arm. “I’m tired of tiptoeing around it.”

Chaeyoung looks at Dahyun confused, but the girl only shakes her head, wanting to give Tzuyu time to say what she needs.

The fire bender sighs heavily and looks at the horizon, where the sun is beginning to set.

Dahyun likes the way the orange sunset reflects in her eyes. 

A small flock of baby turtle ducks swim by, lead by their mother, and Tzuyu stares at them full of melancholy. Her throat closes up a little bit, but she speaks up nonetheless.

“When I was five… my mom and I would visit a lake near the manor and feed the turtle ducks. One time the littlest one of the flock got hurt, I don’t know how, but his wing was messed up, so my mom and I separated him from the rest and took him home to mend the wing. The mother duck wouldn’t stay still, or quiet, which really angered Sooyoung at the time. She didn’t understand, you know? She was never patient or caring…” The girls can tell by this point Tzuyu is pretty much ranting, but they know the youngest needs to get it all off her chest. “My mom paid her no mind, though. She never gave in to Sooyoung’s angry tantrums. Not a minute goes by where I don’t think of her, where I don’t miss her... We finished taking care of the duck and let him go back with his mom. She immediately got him under her wing and they left. I never saw them again after that and… I don’t know, part of me thinks Sooyoung might’ve-” Tzuyu stops mid sentence to wipe a tear, and she turns she finds both girls looking at her with worry. “I’m sorry, I kinda lost track of the story, um…”

“Who’s Sooyoung?” Chaeyoung asks without much tact, which earns her an elbow to her ribs courtesy of Dahyun.

“She’s…” Tzuyu ponders for a second, biting her bottom lip. “My half sister, if you can call her that.” When she looks back at the girls, there’s a look of indolence in her eyes. She takes a deep breath and opens her mouth, but she shuts it quickly and licks her lips. Dahyun knows that isn’t all there is to it, but she isn’t going to press Tzuyu any further.

“I never had a sibling but I did have a pet rat.” Chaeyoung comments as she picks little blades of grass between her fingers. Maybe it’s the way she blurted it out of nowhere, or how seriously she said it, but Tzuyu bursts out laughing. Genuinely laughing.

(Chaeyoung smiles victoriously to herself.)

“What the fuck, Chaeyoung?” Dahyun asks, shaking her head and laughing. “A pet rat?”

“Yeah, who do you think gave me this scar?” Chaeyoung says lifting her sleeve to show them her arm.

“There’s nothing there.” Tzuyu laughs, rubbing her slightly red eyes.

“Yes there is! Look.” Chaeyoung leans over Dahyun to show Tzuyu her arm, making the fire bender laugh even more.

“Chaeyoung, that’s a mosquito bite!”

“It’s a rat bite!”

Dahyun looks at the short girl with a smile that drips love. 

Tzuyu’s belly laugh can be heard even from across the river.

The sun sets.

\--

“Thanks,” Dahyun kisses Chaeyoung’s cheek on their way home. They stroll through the grass, moonlight shining upon them, hands held together tightly. 

“Not that I’m complaining, but why?” Chaeyoung asks.

“For distracting Tzuyu today… I know she’s not exactly your favorite person, but it means a lot that you helped her.”

“I do like her, you know? Yeah, she totally stole you from me,” Chaeyoung rolls her eyes mockingly, faking an annoyed face which causes Dahyun to laugh. “But she’s like, the nicest person to come into this town since you came all those months ago. Besides, I can tell she makes you happy.”

Dahyun isn’t sure how to interpret Chaeyoung’s pointed look, not quite wanting to believe Chaeyoung is implying what Dahyun thinks she is. But either way, Chaeyoung doesn’t look upset at all. 

“You make me happy.”

“I know that,” Chaeyoung stops in her steps, cradling Dahyun’s face once the girl stands in front of her. “But I want you to be the happiest. So, the more reasons to be, the better.”

Dahyun leans into Chaeyoung’s touch, wrapping her own arms around the girl’s neck. The night sky reflects in her eyes but Dahyun has no doubt they’re brighter than the actual stars. She pulls Chaeyoung close by the back of her neck, and no matter how many times they kiss, it’s always exhilarating. 

They keep kissing until they run out of air (Dahyun insists she will find a way to air-bend their way into kissing for longer) but even then they still hold each other as close as possible, foreheads resting together. Chaeyoung bumps their noses and Dahyun calls her cheesy. Chaeyoung pouts and Dahyun bites her lip teasingly. 

“Stop, we have to go home,” Chaeyoung wines and sneaks one last kiss before she starts walking again. “Jeongyeon is gonna beat our asses.”

“Talk for yourself, she wouldn’t dare touch my ass.”

Dahyun yelps when Chaeyoung gives her a playful slap.

“Oh, but I will.”

\--

Tzuyu finds herself a family.

Chaeyoung starts spending more time with her and Dahyun, and soon enough it’s hard to see one of them without the other two. They hang out in the library (Nayeon half-heartedly scolds them for not letting Dahyun do her job), by the river, and even in Chaeyoung’s secret spots. 

But not in town. Never there.

The guards are still roaming the streets, although every day there’s less of them and there hadn’t been another  _ incident  _ since the tea house one. It seems like they’re slowly moving out to continue their search in another town, but neither of the girls want to risk walking around in plain daylight. 

Tzuyu always feels a weight on her shoulders whenever they do go to town, because even if she wears earth kingdom clothes and her hood at all times, she knows it wouldn’t take much for Sooyoung to get to her if she tried to. Tzuyu knows it’s not the case, but she still hopes the woman has finally given up on her.

She feels such responsibility she always avoids going to the girls’ house, even if they invite her many times. 

Tzuyu would never forgive herself if they got hurt because of her.

But she can’t keep saying no when one night Nayeon comes home with an invitation to dinner from Jeongyeon and Sana. Momo is excited about it, she had wanted to meet Sana ever since she found out they had both grown up in the same city but their schedules made it hard for them. 

Momo has fun dressing Tzuyu up, claiming she has to give a good impression to their hosts. Of course Momo doesn’t know the sole idea of meeting Jeongyeon and Sana, the women raising Dahyun and Chaeyoung, makes her palms sweat and a knot form on her throat.

When Tzuyu agreed to it, she didn’t think Momo would give her a traditional Earth Kingdom costume; jacket buttoned up all the way up with a small tie decorating her neck and her hair held up by a green and golden band. She can’t believe what she was seeing in the mirror,  _ it’s way too much! _

But Nayeon insists she looks cute, and Momo  _ had  _ made a lot of effort to make her look nice, so Tzuyu goes with it.

(Later, when Chaeyoung looks at her agape and tells her  _ earth kingdom looks good on you _ , she blushes. And when Dahyun says green really is her color, Tzuyu thinks maybe Momo made her a favor.)

When everyone has sat down to eat, Tzuyu looks around the table fondly. 

She only ever had her mom, despite being surrounded by many people from a young age, she never considered anyone else  _ family _ . It pained her soul that every day it was more and more difficult to remember her mom with clarity, but the pain was eased a bit when she saw Nayeon laughing loudly as she leaned on Momo’s shoulder, how Jeongyeon slipped more pieces of meat into Sana’s plate when she finished her own, and how Dahyun and Chaeyoung were playing footsie with her under the table. 

_This_ _is a family_ , Tzuyu thinks to herself. _And it’s mine._

\--

Tzuyu should’ve known it wouldn’t last for much longer. She just thought she had more time.

She’s walking home alone for the first time in a while. She had declined Dahyun’s offer to walk with her because the girl had had a lot of work lately and Tzuyu just wanted her to rest. Chaeyoung went with her, of course, so that left Tzuyu by herself.

By that point there were almost no guards left in town, but Tzuyu still couldn’t rest easy. She hasn’t seen Sooyoung ever since she kicked her out, and it doesn’t sit well with her. Tzuyu knows the older woman isn’t the type to quit.

Her steps become slower and slower as she goes, until she’s standing alone in the middle of an empty alleyway. Her stomach feels like a sinking stone, and she doesn’t feel enough air in her lungs. 

She can’t shake the feeling off, so she turns around to leave the alley and starts walking as fast as she can without calling too much attention to herself.

Time seems to freeze for Tzuyu when, upon reaching the edge of town, she sees the armoured rhino making its way towards the meadow she’s come to be so familiar with.

Before she knows it she’s running, her lungs burn and her legs start to hurt but nothing can make her waver. 

She’s getting closer, can see the woman riding the animal with such a wicked smile on her face Tzuyu feels her stomach churn. 

The small house is already in sight, in clear contrast with the orange sky. Tears stream down Tzuyu’s face and her nails are leaving deep dents in her palms, but Sooyoung is getting down from the rhino and there’s not a single thing in the world that could make Tzuyu slow down.

Tzuyu is almost there, knows she needs to get to the woman before she can get any further. But she’s so enraged she can’t control her actions properly. 

Of course Sooyoung heard her already, though, and she expects the blast of fire Tzuyu sends her way. She blocks it without any trouble and turns around to smile at Tzuyu smugly.

The young girl finally stops running, chest heaving up and down as her fists light up. 

“You really thought I’d lay off of you so easily?” Sooyoung smirks and, while Tzuyu has never been one for violence, she feels the urge to do something very terrible then and there.

“Not for one second.” Her breath is ragged and her throat is dry, but she inches closer to the woman. 

She fires again, and this time Sooyoung fires back. There’s no doubt she’s very powerful, and while Tzuyu struggles to put up with her, she knows what she’s capable of.

Fueled by her rage and undeniable fear, Tzuyu blasts fireball after fireball, aiming for Sooyoung’s head. But the woman is cold and calculated, so she manages to divert all of the attacks successfully. She goes for Tzuyu’s legs instead, making the young girl quickly lose balance. But Tzuyu isn’t the fragile girl Sooyoung thinks she is.

However, she doesn’t expect the punch she receives in her jaw. She falls backwards, vision going dark for a second before she receives a kick in her stomach that leaves her doubled over on the floor.

“You just had to go and throw it all away. And for what, a bland, useless airbender?” Sooyoung spits on her and kicks her chest when Tzuyu tries to stand up. “What’s wrong, Chou? Why are you crying? Don’t tell me you love her or some shit because I’m gonna vomit.” Sooyoung laughs lowly, enjoying the way Tzuyu struggles to get up as angry hot tears wet her face. 

“Don’t touch her.” She manages to mumble, looking up at the woman standing in front of her with hate.

“You’re seriously worrying about her when you’re the one with a bloody nose? Pathetic.”

“I don’t have a bl-” The punch straight to her face almost makes her go unconscious, but despite the warm liquid run down her chin, Tzuyu isn’t even close to giving up.

“Don’t worry, though, I’ll keep you alive long enough to say goodbye. Or maybe not, but you’ll definitely have to watch.” 

The woman doesn’t even get to turn around when a boulder three times the size of her head hits her, making her stumble away from Tzuyu. Sooyoung turns around enraged, and Tzuyu’s heart stops when she sees Chaeyoung standing not too far from her, fists up in the air ready to land another hit.

“I don’t think you want to mess with me, jackass.” Sooyoung says through tight gritted teeth as she wipes the blood coming out of her ear.

“Stay away from her.” Is all Chaeyoung says before throwing another big rock, so fast Sooyoung can’t stop it from hitting her chest. 

They start a fight of their own, giving Tzuyu enough time to try and stand up. Her chest hurts, so much she thinks she must have a broken rib. She feels like she’s over, because no matter how hard she tries it burns too much when she moves. She clutches the dirt beneath her fingers, tears falling onto the ground. Tzuyu lifts her head and she can’t believe Chaeyoung is managing to keep Sooyoung in check, but she knows it won’t be long until the woman wears her out. 

Tzuyu sobs and looks up at the sky. 

She can’t do it.

“Tzuyu!”

No. Not Dahyun.  _ What is she doing here!? _

The older girl is running towards her and Tzuyu shakes her head, desperately trying to get Dahyun to understand that  _ it’s not worth it.  _ Sooyoung’s eyes shine brighter with malice at the sight of the girl.

“I told you to stay inside!” Chaeyoung shouts, but in the second she takes to turn around Sooyoung blasts a huge wall of fire at her. 

It’s too late when Chaeyoung realizes what’s happening, the bright orange and yellow fire looms over her and she shuts her eyes, fearing her fate.

But it never comes. 

Instead, blue shines through her closed eyelids and when she opens them she finds Tzuyu standing in front of her. She’s clutching at her side and her lips and chin are covered in blood, but she stands tall as ever in front of the earth bender.

“You really should have learned by now to not mess with me.” Sooyoung goes for another hit, but Tzuyu quickly diverts it and punches her sister in the face. The woman touches the blood running down her face and scoffs, trying to hit Tzuyu again but failing as the girl grabs her arm and blocks her fits with her own palm.

“I challenge you,” Tzuyu mutters before she can process what she’s saying, tightening her grip on Sooyoung’s arm. “To an  _ agni kai _ .”

Tzuyu’s words resound in the silence of the afternoon where only their heavy breaths can be heard. It’s a dumb decision, she knows. She’s not nearly half as trained as Sooyoung is, and this is the first time she actually has to fight for real using her bending; but she is absolutely sure of her words when she thinks about Dahyun and Chaeyoung. A single tear runs down her cheek but she wipes it quickly.

“You’re dying to get humiliated, aren’t you?” Sooyoung laughs and yanks her arm away from Tzuyu’s grip. “Ok, let’s do it.” 

“If I win, you’ll leave us alone. Forever.”

“Right, well, I don’t think you need me to say what will happen when I win so… go ahead, get ready.” 

Sooyoung gives her face soft slaps before she walks back to her rhino and takes her armour off. 

Tzuyu feels two bodies colliding with her own, two pairs of arms wrapping around her and hands wiping the fresh blood on her face.

“Are you out of your mind?” 

“There’s no way we’re letting you do that.”

“Cancel it right now.”

“Go to her and tell her-”

Tzuyu slowly pushes the girls away from her. They look at her like she’s crazy, and Tzuyu looks back at them with glossy eyes. She makes sure her face isn’t covered in blood when she kisses each of them on the cheek.

“Please don’t come close.” Is all Tzuyu mutters before she turns around to face Sooyoung. 

She takes her shirt and shoes off, unties a red band she had wrapped around her wrist and ties her hair up in a perfect bun, half of it still down. The bandages covering her chest are stained with blood, such as the ones covering her arm. 

“Done with your goodbyes, Chou?” Sooyoung asks mockingly as she cracks her knuckles. Tzuyu looks at the girls one last time, hoping they somehow know about all the things she’s leaving unsaid. Then she walks towards Sooyung, chin held high.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“We sure will. And I don’t want any of you rats getting involved you hear me?” Sooyoung spits Dahyun and Chaeyoung’s way. “They  _ are  _ pretty. But not worth an agni kai, just so you know.”

Just as the woman finishes talking, Tzuyu jumps and spins in the air, fire blasting out of her feet. Sooyoung fires back, and Dahyun and Chaeyoung can’t do anything but watch terrified as blue crashes against orange. 

Tzuyu is so tired, her arms are almost giving up and her sides hurt every time she kicks, but she can tell Sooyoung is getting tired too. 

But just as Tzuyu believes she might win; in a rush of adrenaline, Sooyoung manages to knock her down. 

The air is knocked out of her lungs as her back collides with the hard ground, and she closes her eyes in defeat when Sooyoung stands above her with her with her arm extended pointing straight to her head. 

“I burnt you once, you should’ve known it would happen again. But don’t worry, this time it won’t hurt for long.” 

Tzuyu hears Chaeyoung’s scream, but she’s so worn out it sounds drowned out despite the girl being way closer than what Tzuyu told her to be. She shifts her head to look at them and she sees Dahyun crying, hiding her face on Chaeyoung’s shoulder.

_ No. _

“Ah, ah, I want you looking at me when this happens,” Sooyoung moves Tzuyu’s face with her feet, enjoying the defeat and disdain in Tzuyu’s face. The younger girl gulps and takes a very deep breath. “Don’t be sad, Chou… you’re finally gonna reunite with your whore mother.”

Nobody, not even Tzuyu herself, expects what happens next. 

She had seen masters doing it a few times, and she thought she would give it a try, a last chance to try and protect Dahyun… but she never thought it would work.

But she does it. She breathes fire, so intense and powerful it launches Sooyoung away from her. 

Her vision is fuzzy and she hears everything as if she was underwater, but as she gets up she can see Sooyoung’s flesh, the middle of her chest and her neck burned by the fire she had spit just seconds ago. The woman is rolling around on the ground, screaming in pain through gritted teeth.

Dahyun and Chaeyoung go running to stand next to Tzuyu, although she signals them to stop before they come too close. 

“You bitch-”

“I won fairly,” Tzuyu’s expression is stone cold as she slowly walks towards Sooyoung. “You can go now.”

“Dad will make sure you regret this.”

“Dad will never hear about this because that means he has to know about how you lost. About how  _ I beat you _ ,” Tzuyu kicks dirt onto Sooyoung’s face, not finding it in herself to feel sorry for the woman now kneeling in front of her. “Go tell him how  _ little spineless Tzuyu  _ beat you.”

Sooyoung is fuming by now, she lifts her head up to look at Tzuyu with raging eyes as she bares her teeth. 

“Go, Sooyoung. I mean it.”

“Let me give you a little something so you remember me.”

The last thing Tzuyu sees is Sooyoung surging forward, and the last thing she feels is the skin on her face burning.

\--

“She doesn’t like beetle worm soup.”

“I know but Nayeon and Momo don’t have any noodles left.”

“How about cabbages? Do they have any?”

“Are you kidding? I’m not gonna give her that thing.”

“She has to eat healthy.”

“Beetle worms are healthy.”

Tzuyu’s head is throbbing. The second she tries to lean on her elbows she feels nauseous so she falls back on the soft pillow. She huffs and the voices around her quiet down, but she still feels ruffling around… what she thinks is her room.

All the memories of the fight come back to her and she feels panic flood her body, making her sit up abruptly which causes her whole body to hurt. Her eyes feel heavy and  _ weird  _ as she tries to open them. Her vision is very blurry at first and she feels something is off; so she reaches up to touch her face. Her right eye is ok. Her left eye- when she tries to touch it she only feels thick bandages, ones that go around her head. 

Tzuyu feels a void in her stomach, and she comes to find her whole torso is also dressed up. The back of her head is sticky with sweat and she still can’t recognize where she is. She jumps when a hand rests itself on her thigh, but she relaxes once she turns around and realizes she’s with Dahyun and Chaeyoung.

“Tzu? How do you feel?” Dahyun asks giving her leg a soft squeeze. Tzuyu’s throat feels sore (the cost of breathing fire, maybe), so her voice comes out extra raspy.

“Are you safe? Where’s Chaeyoung?” Is the first thing she says, eyeing Dahyun up and down to check there was no harm done to her. 

“God, you’re so…” Tzuyu almost gets whiplash upon hearing Chaeyoung’s voice on her other side. She’s holding a tray with a bowl and despite the reprimanding tone of her voice she has a small smile. “You get burnt and almost beaten up to death and the first thing you say is that?”

Tzuyu leans back on her pillow, covers her face with her hands and groans.

“Where’s Sooyoung?”

“I took care of her  _ and  _ her rhino, don’t worry,” Chaeyoung runs her fingers through Tzuyu’s hair, softly scratching her scalp. “Let’s see how far she gets with a broken leg and no transport.” 

“That was brutal, honestly.” Dahyun mutters absentmindedly when she remembers the state the woman had left in.

“But you’re ok?” Tzuyu asks again, feeling a tiny bit better now that she has both girls next to her.

“Tzu, Chaeyoung got the tips of her hair burnt and I literally don’t have a single scratch. You saved our lives.”

“Tsk,” Tzuyu shakes her head, eye flooding with tears. “It was my fault in the first place. I should’ve at least warned you; left you guys alone but I was selfish and-” 

Her words are cut when she feels a kiss on the corner of her lips. She opens her eye wide, face bright red as she looks at Dahyun.

“Did you just-”

“I never want to hear you say that ever again, ok? You’re our hero. Now shut up and eat this, ok? You need it.”

Chaeyoung places the tray on top of Tzuyu’s legs and feeds her a spoonful, which makes Tzuyu blush but she eats it nonetheless.

“But I need to apologize for omitting the fact that my sister was that-”

“We said shut up and eat.” Chaeyoung chuckles, feeding Tzuyu again. “We will talk it all later, alright? You have to get better first. Besides, if  _ that  _ was my sister I wouldn’t go around talking about her either.”

“What about…?” Tzuyu points at her eye as she gulps, afraid of the answer. “Was it bad or…”

“Well… luckily the adults got home not long after Sooyoung left. Sana treated your wound but Momo said it will leave a scar.”

“And, not that she’s a doctor, but Nayeon said no getting up from bed in at least two weeks because your ribs got pretty hurt too.”

“But don’t worry, your nose is as pretty as ever.” Chaeyoung winks, trying to lighten the mood.

“You just… have to wait I guess. Be patient. We’ll be right here with you while you recover.” 

Tzuyu sobs out, feeling everything come down at once. From the fright of losing her friends, the adrenaline of the fight, and the emotional and physical exhaustion. But there’s a thumb wiping her tears and another one rubbing her shoulder. 

She’ll be fine.

_ \-- _

“How do you feel, love?” Nayeon asks Tzuyu, lovingly ruffling her hair.

“Tons better, thank you. My body doesn’t hurt anymore.” Tzuyu replies between a mouthful of food, eagerly eating her lunch next to a just as eager Momo.

It’s been a month since the fight, and Tzuyu is slowly but surely recovering, now living permanently with Nayeon and Momo.

“You know, Tzu, we were thinking maybe it’s time to get rid of the bandages… the one on your eye,” Momo tells her carefully, watching her reaction. “It will heal better if you do.”

Tzuyu shrugs, but her gaze is stuck to her plate and Nayeon and Momo know she doesn’t really want to. And why.

“They’re not gonna say anything about it, you know?” Nayeon assures Tzuyu, reaching across the table to hold the girl’s hand.

“Yeah, they’ll probably think it’s cool. Scars are cool.” Momo says trying to convince her.

Tzuyu knows they’re right, but she can’t help but be weary. What if Dahyun thinks it’s gross? What if Chaeyoung is ashamed to be seen with her when she looks like that?

“Hey,” Momo calls out, seeing the doubt in Tzuyu’s face. “I understand if you don’t want that, but I do think it will help the wound heal faster. Maybe we can just try being without it here at home?”

_ Here at home.  _ The words resound in Tzuyu’s head. Warm her heart.

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

-

“Please give me one.” Dahyun pouts and bats her eyelashes at Chaeyoung.

“No way, get your own.” The girl scoffs and moves the small box of berries away from Dahyun.

“Come on, don’t be so mean!” 

Tzuyu laughs as she gets closer to the girls, sitting on the grass and facing the river in their now usual hangout spot. She’s nervous, but seeing them ranting as they always do reminds her that  _ this is just Dahyun and Chaeyoung. Nothing to worry about.  _ With one last deep breath she approaches them.

“Oh! Hey Tzu!” Chaeyoung greets her, eyes meeting Tzuyu’s own but without really focusing on the scar. “Do you want a berry?”

“You’re so mean…” Dahyun whines, crossing her arms over her chest. “Tzuyu, tell her she’s mean.”

“Well, Chae, I do want a berry, thank you.” 

“Unbelievable!” Dahyun scoffs but she can’t keep pretending to be mad at Chaeyoung when the girl slips a berry into her mouth to shut her up.

Tzuyu shifts in her place, wondering what the girls think of her new look.

“It’s good that you took the bandages off,” Chaeyoung comments nonchalantly, smiling at the taller girl. “It’s so unfair…”

“What?” Tzuyu asks and Dahyun rolls her eyes, punching Chaeyoung’s shoulder.

“Don’t mind her.”

“It’s just that you’re like the only person across the four nations that could still look so good with a scar covering a quarter of your face.” 

Tzuyu giggles (and blushes) and she feels a bit lighter.

“It’s all yours if you want it.”

“It wouldn’t look good on her, though.” Dahyun teases and the girls get into another faux argument. Tzuyu watches them fondly until both girls interrupt their banter to address Tzuyu.

“Why are you looking at us like that?” Chaeyoung asks with a teasing smile.

“I’m not looking at you like anything,” Tzuyu shrugs, winking at Dahyun once Chaeyoung turns around.

“Sure you are, Tzu…”

They stay there for hours, sharing lots of giggles and eating Chaeyoung’s berries until the box is empty. 

Tzuyu thinks it was all worth it.

\--

_ “I know you got hurt but I hope you know you looked pretty hot when you took off your shirt to fight.” _

_ “Chaeyoung!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading all the way to the end! this was very long wasn't it hdfjfhsjk um i just wanted to thank you bc i know not many people read dubchaeng but, as for the ones to do (you guys <3) i really hope you enjoyed it and i will try to come up with more works for everyone (if you have an idea you'd like me to write let me know!!)  
> for any questions or anything you want to say my curiouscat is dahyunayeon, and please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this :3 see you next time!


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